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Saturday, 24 September 2016

I received an open invitation to contribute to the Ethel Mairet Dye Project - 'Dyeing Now' . A research project aiming to create and catalogue every natural dye recipe from Ethel Mairet's 1916 "Vegetable Dyes" publication.I've always wanted to have a go at Madder red. So I chose Ethel's recipe 'Red for Cotton and linen', pg 105, and just as quickly abandoned it when I noticed 2oz Arsenic(!) in the ingredients list. I used the safer '3 step Alum and Tanin' mordanting method and cobbled together the Madder dye based on my own experience. Now then, I do chuckle when people use the words "Natural" and "Eco" when describing dyeing with plants. Any dyeing with plants needs to be undertaken with care and an understanding of which ingredients can be toxic. ( I steer clear of the toxic/ lethal ones!).

Madder Reds and Pinks

Madder linens and leather. Madder was traditionally used to dye cricket balls